It’s a Bird, It’s a Crane! Sandhill Cranes Nest for the First Time at Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge

While birding at <a href="https://www.fws.gov/refuge/kootenai" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge</a> in North Idaho, you can see so. Many. Birds. Number four on the Idaho Birding Trail list for North Idaho, at peak times during the fall migration you can see 40,000 waterfowl at once on the refuge. In the summer, black tern and red-necked grebe come to the refuge to breed and raise the next generation. Resident, breeding land birds such as least flycatcher, red-eyed vireo, American redstart, Bullock’s oriole, and bank swallow are often visible along Deep Creek Trail. Hundreds of species rely on the refuge as a safe place to rest, feed, or even raise their young. But for the first time, refuge staff and local birders witnessed sandhill cranes successfully raise their young on the refuge. “It’s been exciting! Lots of visitors and birders have been coming to visit the family. Watching these chicks grow and fledge — successful nesting is not something that’s happened in the area before to anyone’s knowledge,” said Refuge Manager Shannon Ehlers. <a href="https://medium.com/usfwspacificnw/its-a-bird-it-s-a-crane-a617e59906bf">Visit Now</a>